Stephen Sondheim

Can you believe it’s July already? (We’ve heard that just about every month so far.) Well, it is. July always seems to come around about this time of year, and to celebrate that certainty on the Dress Circle (7/5 7:00 p.m.), we’re going to be sampling a few of the shows that opened in New York this month through overtures and opening numbers.

We’re following up on an earlier program on this week’s Dress Circle (6/21 7:00 p.m.) with a program we’ve titled “Songs of Inspiration, Determination, and Hope. The previous program was in April which has been dubbed the “Month of Hope,” and that program contained an entirely different playlist of songs with “hope” in the title. This time, the songs offer inspiration and hope for characters and listeners, as well as show determination to overcome adversity. We believe that these are things that are truly needed just now.

For a few years after 2020 hit, people became obsessed with once again being able to travel. Now, with the price of oil and gas (and rising prices in general), many have started to bemoan the fact that traveling might not be in the cards once again this year. To help remedy this, we’re looking at songs about traveling on this week’s Dress Circle (5/17 7:00 p.m.) in the hopes we can vicariously ease the angst many are feeling.

So many stage musicals were destroyed by Hollywood when they were adapted into films. Often, entire scores were thrown out, and other times, two or three songs, and on this week’s Dress Circle (4/19 7:00 p.m.), we’ve put together a program of some of the songs that never made it Hollywood with the rest of the show.

Since we're running out of "March," this week's Dress Circle (3/29 7:00 p.m.) is our last one celebrating Women's History Month, and we're turning to Broadway Anthems specifically written for female characters from twelve shows.

Once again, we’re getting ready for Valentine’s Day on this week’s Dress Circle (2/8 7:00 p.m.), and even if you don’t have a Valentine per se, you should really treat yourself by tuning in this week for “Non Love Love Songs” for the day that you make as special as you want. These are “Non-Love Love Songs” because they aren’t the usual “Moon – June – Spoon – I love you songs” one generally expects at this time. These, sometimes in a rather sneaky manner, hint or imply love and possible happy endings.

It seems as though we just went through the holidays, and we’re already starting February! To that end, we’re welcoming the month with overtures and opening numbers from ten February musicals on this week’s Dress Circle (2/1 7:00 p.m.).

In the past, we’ve looked at various types of songs found in musicals such as the “I want” songs where a character lets the audience know his or her reasons for doing things. In this week’s Dress Circle (7/14 7:00 p.m.), we’re going to be looking at ‘story songs” which are, oddly enough, songs that tell stories. Sometimes, those stories are life-histories, but many times, they act as allegories.

The end is nigh! Well, the end of the year, that is. Welcome to December, and to kick off the month of wishes and gifts, we’re going to be looking at a dozen musicals that opened in New York this month on this week’s Dress Circle (12/7 7:00 p.m.). We’ll be looking at 125 years of musical history, from Victor Herbert’s “The Ameer” in 1899 through to the 2024 revival of “Gypsy” that starred Audra McDonald and Danny Burstein.

We’re turning to our third and final (for now) program of Literary Based Musicals on this week’s Dress Circle (11/30 7:00 p.m.), and we’re once again looking at four very different works from Broadway, television, and London's West End.